On January 29 in NYR history: Stadium Series game 2

What happened on January 29 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 2014, the New York Rangers finished a two game sweep in their Stadium Series.  Three days after beating the New Jersey Devils, the Blueshirts topped the Islanders 2-1 in front of a sold out and shivering Yankee Stadium crowd of 50,027.

Unlike the first game that was played in the afternoon, this match took place at night with the puck drop at 7:45pm.  The temperature was 22 degrees, but with the wind chill, it felt like the single digits.

The Rangers improved their outdoor record to 3-0 on goals by Benoit Pouliot and Dan Carcillo and behind Henrik Lundqvist‘s 30 saves.   Brock Nelson scored the Islander’s only goal with just 1:27 left in the second period but the Rangers answered back 40 seconds later on the work of Derick Brassard who got the pass to Pouliot.

It was the second straight comeback win for the Rangers as they had rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Devils 7-3 in the first outdoor game.

The Rangers have played outdoors four times since 2003 and have won all four games.  They are the only team in the NHL to play two outdoor games in the same season.

Seven goals for the first time

It took the Rangers into their second season before they were able to score seven goals in a game.  They did it on this date in 1928, scoring seven goals against the New York American as the road team at Madison Square Garden. Bill Cook led the way with a hat trick and Lorne Chabot earned the shutout, one of 11 that season.

The victory set a mark for largest goal margin in a win that held until January 1933 and it was the biggest shutout win in franchise history until a 9-0 win against Montreal in 1940.   Prior to this game the Rangers biggest goal explosion had been five, a feat they accomplished four times in their first two seasons.

A Rocket record

On this date in 1953 Maurice “Rocket ” Richard scored his 20th goal of the season, becoming the first player to score 20 or more goals in his first 10 seasons.   He notched two goals in a 5-2 win for the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden.

Good-bye to Colorado

On January 29 in 1982, the Rangers played their last game in Colorado against the Rockies.  The Blueshirts won 2-1 in their final game in Denver before the team moved to New Jersey to become the Devils.

The Rangers wouldn’t play again in Colorado until February 3, 1996 when they took on the Colorado Avalanche who had relocated from Quebec.

A first for Shanahan

Brendan Shanahan is in the Hall of Fame, but it was on this date in 2007 that he did something for the first time in his 17 years in the NHL and he did it as a Ranger.   He scored on a penalty shot.   The game was in Boston and the Rangers won 6-1.  Shanahan had missed on his first three attempts with the Blues and Red Wings, but this time he made good.   He had one more penalty shot in his career in his last year with the Devils and he scored again.

Gaborik the NHL All-Star Game MVP

On this date in 2012, Rangers forward Marian Gaborik was named the MVP of the All-Star game in Ottawa.   In a weird format, the two teams were chosen by their captains, Zdeno Chara and Daniel Alfredsson.   That’s how Gaborik ended up on Team Chara, playing against fellow Rangers Henrik Lundqvist and Dan Girardi who were on Team Alfredsson.  He also beat John Tortorella who was the co-coach of Team Alfredsson.

Gaborik won after scoring a hat trick in the game, won by Team Chara 12-9.   Gaborik finished with four points and his first two goals came against his teammate, Henrik Lundqvist.  It was a shootfest as there were 94 shots on goal total and Steven Stamkos missed on a penalty shot.

Today’s birthdays

37 NHL players have been born on January 29, including two former Rangers blueliners

Kevin Shattenkirk was born on this date in 1989 in New Rochelle, New York.  He finally got to fufill  his dream of playing for the team he grew up rooting for when he signed with the Rangers in 2017 as a free agent.  His tenure in New York was not a success as he suffered a meniscus injury in training camp, tried to play through it and then saw the team embark on a rebuild.  He was  bought out after two years with the Rangers.  Shattenkirk is now playing for the Anaheim Ducks after winning the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020. .

Jason Doig was born on January 29, 1977 in Montreal, Quebec.  He came to the Rangers in a 1999 trade from Phoenix and the defender played 10 games for the Rangers in two seasons, spending most of the time with the Wolf Pack. He was later traded to Ottawa.

The numbers

Only 30 games in franchise history played on January 29 and the team has split them evenly.

Games: 30
Regulation wins:  14
Regulation losses: 14
Ties: 2
Points percentage: .500